1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project Class.

Here we are!  Again!!

If you have been following our Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, you know we have asked the rhetorical question: What if the PFHOF began in January 1946?

After soliciting and obtaining a passionate group of football fans and historians, we sent out a ballot for a Preliminary Vote, in which we asked each voter to give us 25 names as their semi-finalists and 5 in the Senior Pool. We then asked the group to vote for their 15 Finalists in the Modern Era and 3 in the Senior Category. The final stage was to vote for their five Modern Era inductee and one Senior inductee.

This is the result of the 30th official class; 

Below are the final results of this project based on 31 votes.

Remember that the group took a vote in “1970”, and we have reverted to the top five candidates entering the Hall, PROVIDING THEY MAKE 50% of the vote.  This will be put to a vote again in “1976”.

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1974:

This is for the “Senior Era”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1974.

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1974.

About the 1974 Inductees:

Lou Groza T-C-DT-K, CLE 1946-59 & 1961-67: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1974 on his 2^nd Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974.

An original Cleveland Brown, Lou Groza was recruited by Paul Brown, primarily to act as the Browns’ Place Kicker.  Groza led the AAFC in Points in his rookie year, and after two seasons, Groza also helped out on Cleveland’s Offensive Line, and he would perform a dual-role for the next twelve seasons.

The Browns won the first four AAFC Championships, and Groza helped them win the 1950, 1954, and 1955 NFL Titles.  Groza evolved into an above-average Left Tackle, but his kicking talents were ahead of its time.  "The Toe" was one of the first Kickers who could regularly get it through the uprights in further distances.  Before Groza, Field Goals beyond 40 Yards were rarely attempted, but a new dynamic was added to the game with Groza as a weapon.  He would be named a First Team All-Pro four years in a row (1952-55) with nine Pro Bowl appearances.  Back issues compounded, and he retired after the 1959 Season, though he returned as a pure kicker from 1961 to 1967.

Bobby Mitchell, FL-HB-WR, CLE 1958-61 & WAS 1962-68: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1974 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

The Washington Redskins owner, George Preston Marshall, did not want to integrate his team, but the team was forced to do so by the National Football League.  In 1961, under pressure from the NFL and the Federal Government, Marshall drafted Ernie Davis, the first ever African American Heisman winner.

Fearful of what he might have had to pay Davis, Marshall traded him to Cleveland for Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Jackson, who would become the first two black players on the Redskins.  Mitchell had been playing at Halfback for four years with the Browns, was moved to Flanker, and he would lead the NFL in Receiving Yards in his first two seasons in Washington, with his third year seeing him top the leaderboard in Receiving Touchdowns.  Named a First Team All-Pro in 1962, Mitchell was also a Pro Bowler in 1962, 1963, and 1964. 

Mitchell had three more good years but declined in 1968 and retired shortly after.  With the Redskins, he would have 6,930 Yards From Scrimmage with 51 TDs.  

After his playing career ended, Mitchell became an executive with Washington for decades to come and was at one time the team’s Assistant General Manager. 

Mike McCormack, T-DG-DT, NYY 1951 & CLE 1954-62.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1974 on his 7th Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984.

Mike McCormack played for the New York Yanks as a rookie, but he would leave them to serve his country in the Korean War.  When he returned, the Yanks had folded, and the Baltimore Colts were created to replace them.  McCormack signed with the Colts, but Cleveland Browns Head Coach, Paul Brown, remembered the Lineman and traded for him before he played for the Colts.

McCormack started at Middle Guard and then Right Tackle, helping Cleveland win the NFL Championship in both 1954 and 1955.  The Browns were a very competitive team for McCormack's duration (until 1962), and he was named to five Pro Bowls and three Second Team All-Pros.  Brown had referred to McCormack as the best Lineman that he ever coached, and that is as high praise as you can get.  The Browns agreed and named him to their Ring of Honor in 2010.

Drafted in the third round of the 1951 NFL Draft out of Kansas, Mike McCormack began his professional career with the New York Yanks before stepping away to serve his country in the Korean War. By the time he returned from military service, the Yanks franchise had folded, and its assets were transferred to the newly formed Baltimore Colts. Legendary head coach Paul Brown had kept a close eye on the physical lineman and orchestrated a multi-player trade to acquire him before he ever suited up in Baltimore, bringing McCormack to Cleveland in 1954.

The transaction paid immediate dividends. McCormack stepped straight into the starting lineup at middle guard, famously securing a game-changing fumble recovery in the 1954 NFL Championship Game victory over Detroit. He transitioned to right tackle the following season, anchoring the offensive front for Otto Graham and clearing lanes for a powerful ground attack as Cleveland repeated as NFL Champions in 1955.

Over the next eight seasons, McCormack established himself as the premier offensive tackle of his era. Combining exceptional footwork with relentless leverage, he anchored the right side of the Browns' line through 1962, earning six Pro Bowl selections and four All-Pro honors during his tenure in Cleveland. Paul Brown famously called McCormack the finest offensive lineman he ever coached—high praise considering the hall-of-fame talent that passed through Brown's locker rooms.

McCormack retired after the 1962 season, following nine stellar years in Cleveland, having played in 108 regular-season games for the franchise and appearing in four NFL Championship Games.

His dominant career in the trenches was immortalized with induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984, followed by his enshrinement in the inaugural class of the Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor in 2010.